What Jess and her family went through in the 15 months before her passing was excruciating and witnessing this was absolutely heartbreaking. I knew I had to do something to help, I just wasn’t sure how.

Jess’s diagnosis was also a big wake up call. After all, I was also a young mum to 3 little boys and had taken my good health for granted. After learning of Jess's illness, I started to see things differently. Through all her treatments and setbacks including the loss of 99% of her vision from a stroke after surgery, she somehow managed to remain so positive. Her message was always loud and clear. Live in the moment, don’t take life for granted, take action, start doing, just live. So that’s what I started to do. One of the things I dove into was my first ocean swim. ​

I had been thinking of trying this out for awhile now. Now I’m no Libby Trickett, I was never going to make the Olympics but I did train a lot growing up which meant my stroke was efficient and controlled. It was fitness and getting comfortable in the open water that I had to work on. Jess was really enthusiastic when I told her I was going to do this and that she was my inspiration to give it a go. So I registered for a Noosa ocean swim, trained in the pool and gave it a crack. My first ever ocean swim was in May 2015, 15 months prior to my channel attempt. It was 2km, nearly killed me but I quickly realised that I loved training for an event and then achieving that goal. Now I wanted another one, but I also decided that it had to be a much longer swim as I wanted to raise money for a charity of Jess’s choice.

Swimming across the English Channel is not an ordinary thing to do in fact more people have sumitted Mt Everest than swum solo across the channel. Yes it is a long way and with strong variable tides the average swimmer will cover in excess of 40ks. You are also totally at the mercy of mother nature, but the biggest challenge for me would be that the water is cold and for the swim to be officially recognised, wetsuits are not allowed. To put this in perspective, 27 degrees is the temperature of a normal heated swimming pool. In winter, the temperature of Moreton Bay gets down to about 19 degrees, the temperature of the ice recovery pool at the QAS is 14 degrees (and you generally don’t stay in it for longer than 5mins) and the day I swam the English Channel, the water was between 15-18 degrees.

​Now I had to assemble an experienced team around me to help me with this task. Some people think that ocean swimming is a very solitary sport, you just dive into the sea and start swimming. It couldn’t be further from the truth for me anyway. My first stop was finding a coach, lucky for me I didn’t have to look far. Trent Grimsey is a brisbane coach who has a very early 4.15am adult squad at centenary pool. He also happens to holds the world record for the fastest English Channel crossing in an amazing time of 6hrs 55mins. Trent booked me in with a channel pilot Paul Foreman who is the skipper of the Optimist boat, for 12 months time.He then put me in touch with Tara Diversi, an experienced cold water marathon nutritionist and 2 London based coaches from Red Top Swimming Squad- Tim and Matt who have crewed for over 50 channel swims and would head up my crew on the big day. I was in excellent hands.

Then under Trent's guidance I went and did a huge amount of training, in both the pool and the ocean. This involved travelling to Victoria to swim in ocean water for 4-6hrs at a time. Absolutely this was tough. I struggled with the cold water but I knew that this was something I had to mentally overcome. There was one thing I could do to make this a little easier. I had to gain weight, and quickly. Now this is something I have never ever intentionally set out to do, and it required a severe shift in mind-set.

When you are submerged in water far less than your core body temperature for a long period of time it is inevitable that this can result in hypothermia which can be fatal. Other than exposing yourself to the cold as much as possible in training, another way to prevent this is to have a certain level of body fat surrounding your vital organs. So around the torso. Tara my dietician wanted me to gain at least 5kgs-10kg in this region. Now this may seem like an easy task and perhaps even enjoyable, but when you are swimming 40kms a week and racing around after 3 active boys, it is not an easy thing to do. But you’ll be pleased to know that I got there in the end thanks to a very unhealthy daily consumption of coke and lollies.

A common saying in the Channel community is that a successful solo swim requires 20% physical strength and 80% mental strength. So with my fat gaining eating regime and hours and hours of training ahead of me I knew my body would be up for the challenge but the most important thing was to train my mind to prepare myself for what was about to happen. The hardest part to get your head around, is the fact there is no fixed finish line. No one can tell you just how long it will take. Trent had estimated it could take me anywhere from 11 to 14 hrs. It is just a matter of taking one stroke at a time and staying in the moment. ​There are a lot of factors that combine to make the swim really hard. Tides running north and south of the channel make it impossible to swim in a straight line, unless you are Trent Grimsey who can swim faster than the tides. The wind and weather are an unknown quantity and can change very quickly. There are over 600 commercial ship movements a day in the shipping lanes in the channel and to swim to France you have to swim across the shipping lanes. It was my pilot’s job to stay out of the path of these vessels and keep me safe. The pilots often say, "it is like escorting a snail across the M25." Put these factors all together, including a high level of mental tension, noting that everything is “approximate” or “about” and that a swim can be stopped mid-way because of unfavourable weather. You have the worlds hardest swim- “The Everest of open water swimming.” The worldwide success rate each season is usually less than 50% for the solo swims.

So it was now my turn. If I was to be successful I was going to be the 143rd Australian and the 5th Qld woman to complete a solo English Channel crossing. We met my pilot Paul Foreman and his crew at 10.30pm at the Dover Marina on Thursday the 21st July and set out toward the starting beach. While I was getting greased up to prevent chaffing from the saltwater Rory, the official observer briefed me on a few rules.

So after saying my goodbyes and making my way down the ladder to the lower deck I plunged into the black, ocean and headed to the beach. I cleared the water and raised my hands like I was told to and waited for the horn. After a few nervous, deep breaths and whispering to myself something like “you’ve got this, you are going to do this” I committed myself 100% to the swim, I left all my doubts on that beach, there is nothing more powerful than the determined mind. The horn sounded and at 11.41pm I waded into the 16 degree black water under the moonlight and swum towards my boat that was lit up like a christmas tree. The adrenaline was pumping and I felt great in the water. Initially I experienced some dizziness from looking into the black water and then turning my head for a breath and looking straight into a spotlight. But after an hour or so this seemed to settle. My nutrition was spot on, every 30 minutes I would tread water and Tim or Matt would throw my warm liquid feeds to me in a bottle which was attached to a rope. The meticulously planned nutrition regime kept my energy stores up and helped to generate heat, keeping me warm. This was also the only time I got a break from turning my arms over, 30-60 seconds every 30 minutes.

I also got a real kick out of seeing the big ships cruise past me. I generally heard their engines underwater first and once they past me I had to deal with the wake, but it was certainly something I have not experienced before and most likely never will again. It was quite incredible. Luckily for me I encountered very little marine life the night/day I swam. I saw a few Jellyfish and a couple brushed past me but I don't recall getting stung or perhaps I was dealing with some joint/muscular pain at the time and didn't notice?

During my entire prep I was most nervous about how my body would cope with 10+hours of 16 degree water. Surprisingly the water did not bother me. I shivered momentarily about halfway and promptly requested the next feed to be warmer. Once the feeds were hotter, I felt much happier and comfortable in the water. My crew were always really positive with their verbal communication to me, well from what I could hear anyway. We also had a cardinal rule that I’m never told how far it really is, because we don’t know how far it is. What’s going to happen to you between this point and that point. What's going to happen with the weather and the tides. Towards the very end of the swim I did call out to my crew asking how much longer to go. Knowing all too well they wouldn't tell me. Tim politely replied "We don't know, just keep swimming you are doing really well". I replied with a smile "Yes you do, you're just not telling me".

My crew were amazing, always saying the right thing at the right time and at least one of them was always in clear view. It did get lonely at times, which sounds a bit odd because the boat was only metres from me. However, I was wearing ear plugs to help with the cold water so I found it really hard to hear my crew and my goggles were slightly foggy so I couldn't see them all that well. My mouth was also a little swollen from the salty water so I found it difficult to communicate clearly. I was alone with my thoughts and had to try and remain focused and positive. Being able to see my crew with each breath taken helped keep me focussed at the job at hand. I knew I just had to keep swimming until I ran out of water.

From 10hrs I could clearly see the French coast line. I could actually see individual trees and the sandy beach which I thought we were aiming for. We were not getting any closer and the wind was picking up creating some messy chop. We were getting swept rapidly down the coast line from the strong tide. This was when I had my first mental wobble. This part of the swim is called the “Graveyard of dreams” which is terribly depressing but the truth is that most unsuccessful swims end within the final 3 miles off the coast, because it is so hard to break through the tide on the back-end of a very long swim. I knew I was not making much progress but I was prepared for this and I was confident that my trusted crew would get me there eventually. The tide on the French coast line is notoriously strong and at top speed can move along at 8k/hr. Once you miss the cap, the land on either side falls away and it can be a long/hard slog getting into shore, if you can get there at all. I knew that it was a matter of urgency that I try and make as much ground as possible at this stage. It is not fun seeing the coast line whizz past at a great rate of knots after swimming for 10hrs. But I had to stay calm and in control. It was extremely frustrating and I'm sure my crew could sense that I was beginning to get anxious and mentally fatigued. This was when the cheering and encouragement from my skipper and crew stepped up a gear, which got me back on track.

My 64km swim track

I was physically hurting and my stroke was rapidly deteriorating but from here, it was going to be close to another 5 hours! Which for most swimmers, would be long time.So here we go and I somehow, without a decision I went into thinking about this dream, and why and how, it wasn’t about the concrete “Can I do it?” I knew I could, that’s part of the discipline and the preparation and there is a pride in that. But I started to think, as I went along, about, Jess and how bravely she fought, she never stopped fighting and I wasn’t going to either, I was going to see this thing through. My abs were burning, my back was aching and my hips and elbows were in agony. My body was screaming at me to stop but my mind was winning the battle.​And now the shore is coming. This epic journey is about to be over. ​So finally after 14hrs and 44mins and covering 64kms on a spring tide, I awkwardly shuffled my way towards the French beach of Wissant.

Lots of people have asked me how it felt when I made it and what did I do when I got to shore.It is really difficult to describe. The overwhelming emotion was pure relief that I had actually made it and could finally stop swimming and take off those same goggles that I had put on almost 15hrs ago (my eye sockets were not happy with me). There was a french family on the beach cheering and clapping when I finally cleared the water. They approached me and started speaking to me in French and excitedly pointing to the boat, I nodded and told them that I had just swum the channel. They asked me how long. I slurred, "I'm not sure, 11 or so hours?" Matt then chirped in "Actually it was over 14hrs". I had lost all sense of time, and was in kid of a daze from exhaustion. I was shocked with the time, it didn't feel that long. I guess time flies when you are having fun.Then I had to swim the painful 500m back to the boat......not a happy camper!

It has been 6 months since that swim, looking back now, was it worth all that training and putting my body and mind through almost 15hrs of torture? Absolutely it was. Would I do a swim like that again? Absolutely not! I took around 53 040 strokes to swim from England to France and for every stroke I took we raised about $2.80.So far the final tally that Jess and I have raised for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is $150 066.So my message is this. I am not an exceptional athlete, I have not represented my country or won gold medals. I am an ordinary person who likes a challenge and after being inspired by my beautiful, kind and quick-witted friend I decided to give ocean swimming a go.

​So yes, I swam the English Channel but the biggest reward was the ability to honour my good friend Jess and her family, and to raise money for those who are either living with or have lost their lives to Brain Cancer.

Final preparations are in full swing as I touched down last week on UK soil. It has been a busy week jammed packed with training, meetings with my UK crew Tim Denyer and Matt Duggan and navigating my way around London. It has also been a time of reflection for me as it has been quite a journey getting to this point. I feel very fortunate to be about to embark on this massive adventure but I couldn't do it without the help of my Mum, Dad and Sister and Brother-in-law, Sarah and Nick who are looking after our kids. I have also been spurred along by the unwavering support and encouragement of Brad and Jess's family and friends.

Today we checked into our B&B in Dover and met up with my pilot Paul Foreman to discuss a possible swim date and to check out my boat which is appropriately called Optimist. It was also a chance to ask any final questions as Paul will be escorting swimmers across the channel over the next few days. We discussed at length the fact that apart from the obvious challenges of the cool water temperature and distance (which we can train for), the elements tend to dictate whether or not a swimmer is successful.

Wind speed, wind direction and tide strength can be predicted by analysing weather forecasts. However, things don't always go to plan. Conditions can change halfway through the swim and tides can be stronger/weaker than anticipated, which can affect the planned route across the channel. It is how a swimmer and their crew respond to the unexpected that determine if they will make it to France. I have worked really hard to get to this point and I feel more ready than ever to take on the Channel. But I know it takes more than hard work, preparation and confidence to have a successful crossing. Mother nature plays a massive part.

My swim could be anywhere between the 19th July-26th July and at this stage we may be looking at a swim at the beginning of my window, possibly through the night. However, as weather forecasts can change quickly, nothing is guaranteed until you actually leap off the boat and into the water. Hopefully, we will get at least 8hrs notice prior to the swim and will keep you all updated. The sun has been shining all day today and is forecast to continue for the next few days. The great thing about that is that the sun is warming the water up. The sea temp reached 16.7C today. Lets hope it continues to rise!

The Swimming 4 Jess tally for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is also continuing to rise and we have reached $76 709! Thank you to everyone who has donated and for your words of support on the fundraising page. I have read every word and look forward to honouring your donations with an epic swim from England to France.

On Tuesday the 24th of May 2016, a beautiful fire cracker of a woman and my dear friend, Jessica Warner passed away from Brain Cancer at the age of 32.

At the moment I know my swim attempt seems almost trivial as we grapple with the thought that Jess is no longer here. Our hearts are breaking as we think about gaping hole in the lives of Brad, Ben and Amelia as well as her parents Sue and John and brother Will.My journey across the English Channel has now become more of a tribute to Jess and her beautiful family who have been to hell and back over the past 15 months. I am now more determined than ever, to succeed.

Jess was very proactive in our fundraising ventures for Swimming 4 Jess as she so desperately wanted future sufferers to be able to spend more time with their loved ones. What a beautiful legacy you have left behind Jess. Ben and Amelia will forever be reminded of your beautiful, caring nature through this last gesture of helping others.

To date, Jess and I have raised over $32 000 for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and with some very sizeable donations on the way, I have absolute confidence we will hit out target of $100 000 over the next couple of months. Just amazing, high fives girlfriend!

There is a pebble collection tradition amongst channel swimmers to collect a pebble from the beach in England and again when they land on French soil. I will be collecting pebbles for Ben and Amelia and I know you will be with me every stoke as we swim across the English Channel together.

Thank goodness that is over!I think it's safe to say that I have been apprehensive about attending Cold Water Camp since I signed up for the English Channel 10 months ago. It did not disappoint. It was challenging, cold and tiring. But that is the point.

Coming from QLD it is difficult to find open water cold enough to prepare your body for the temperate waters between England and France. Ideally you train in water a few degrees colder than what you are expecting to swim in so your body and mind know how to tolerate it. This was my first exposure to swimming for long periods in water below 18 degrees and it was confronting.

Melbourne city in the distance

Grimsey Brisbane swimmers

​I was lucky this year, there were 8 Brisbane swimmers attending the camp. Karlie, Brittney, Anna, Dan, Micheal, Mal, Lynton and myself. I had met them all, trained regularly with them and really enjoyed their company. The first swim was 1.5hrs which I managed well, followed by a night swim for 1hr in the marina. We all wore flashing head lights and glow sticks on our togs for safety reasons and also to try and avoid head-on collisions with other swimmers. I really enjoyed the night swim. It was something I hadn't done before and swimming into seaweed in the dark and grabbing random feet that swam by provided some light entertainment.

The following morning was our 3hr swim. I knew the distance covered would not be an issue as I am generally in the pool for 3hrs each day for training. It was the cold water that concerned me. I felt chilly the whole time and I couldn't feel my toes but by maintaining a good stroke rate around 64 strokes per minute this was about as bad as it got. I tried to keep a smile on my face and think happy thoughts and this really seemed to help. The 3 hours flew and I didn't feel physically fatigued but I was well aware that the following day I would be swimming at least double to tackle the English Channel qualifying swim of 6-8hrs, which was rather daunting. That same afternoon we had another 1hr swim and I realised that my body was beginning to warm itself up post swim a lot quicker than it had previously. I still got the shakes five minutes after getting out when the cold blood from the periphery reached the core but once I was dry and dressed they had dramatically reduced.

Getting ready to take the plunge

The day of the big swim had arrived and after going through my feeding plan with Campbell we set off to the Brighton Baths. It was dark and the air temp was around 14 degrees. It was windy the water was rough and very nerve wracking.

Training buddies- Myself and Karlie

The start of the qualifying swim

​The clock started and at 6am around 30 swimmers made their way into the 15.5 degree waters of Brighton Bay where we would stay until lunchtime. The swim was intended as a 6-8hr swim for aspiring Channel swimmers. My goal for the day as discussed with my coach and sports dietitian was to make it to the 6hr English Channel qualifying time. After all, it was a training swim and not worth risking an injury or getting sick from fatigue as I didn't have weeks in my favour to recover. The first 1.7 km loop was great. I felt numb from the cold and the adrenaline was pumping. This sensation did not last long. After my 2nd loop I felt chilly and as I had never swum in water below 16 degrees let alone for 6hrs I was worried about becoming severely hypothermic and unsure if I would even make it to the English Channel qualifying time of 6hrs. I thought about Jess a lot and about the motivation behind the swim. At no stage was I going to quit, I realised the experienced support crew would pick up the signs of severe hypothermia and left my fate in their hands. So with my nutrition running smoothly and feeling physically strong, my Brisbane training partner and fellow 2016 channel aspirant Karlie, swam our way to 6hrs. The exhilaration of finishing did not last long as I was quickly talked into swimming for a further hour. I did, begrudgingly...

Perfect Channel training weather. Choppy and windy.

The feeding station where the support crews were based

​I have a lot of work to do over the next 3 months especially further cold water exposure. This will involve some further trips to Sydney/Melbourne and putting on an additional 2 kgs which will hold me in good stead for tolerating the water temperature. My nutrition plan could not have gone better thanks to my sports dietitian Tara Diversi. After battling bloating, nausea and vomiting during my Rottnest Channel swim, I was so excited that I tolerated all my feeds and finished the swim with plenty of energy and recovered really well. My body is also holding up brilliantly post long training swims with no injuries or muscle fatigue, thanks to the careful and considered approach of my coach Trent Grimsey and soft tissue therapist Julian Smith from Myo Motion.

Thank you to all of you who have already donated to Swimming 4 Jess. Our fundraising tally for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is also looking healthy at $24 955, with a sizeable contribution on it's way from the annual Collier's Charity Lunch, so very exciting.

If you have not yet donated perhaps you would like to attend our Swimming 4 Jess Charity Lunch in Brisbane on Friday 27th May 2016.Individual tickets are $170 each with 100% of all money raised from the day going to the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.For further details or to book a ticket contact Campbell via email- c_gordon25@hotmail.com or call 0407650743

​I am officially a Rottnest Channel Solo Swimmer! But man, it was tough.The conditions yesterday were perfect, with a blue sky, air temperature of 36 degrees and water temperature a refreshing 21.5 degrees. The atmosphere was amazing at the start and finish line but the bit in between really challenged me.

The day started at 2.55am as Campbell had to get up early to meet our Skipper and Paddler, Damian Cleary (Damo) and Cameron Jarvis (Cam), South of Fremantle to launch the boat.

At 4.15am my Cousin Mon and I set off for Cottesloe Beach, Perth in the dark as we had to be there by 5am for registration. We made it, plastered on the suncream, had a quick chat with my coach Trent Grimsey who settled my nerves and gave the crew a call to make sure they were in position 1km from the start line.

The most stressful part of the swim is finding your paddler and then the support boat. With 100’s of boats and paddlers waiting to collect their swimmer, this is no easy feat. All 2890 swimmers (314 solo swimmers) have to wear the official swim cap which is colour coded according to the category (solo, duo or relay team) and the majority wear black racing suits, so it is really difficult to pick the swimmer out of a crowd. Equally challenging is finding the paddler from the water. Neon Zinc on swimmers and flags, wigs and hats on paddlers, make finding each other a bit easier.Luckily Cam and I met up without any dramas and the boat soon joined us at the 1km mark.

​I was off and racing. I felt brilliant in the water and was enjoying the crystal clear waters off Cottesloe beach and fish spotting. Early on, the only casualty was poor Cam who managed to capsize losing his beloved Bundaberg rum flag and fishing rod which was being used as the flag pole!Unfortunately for me though, the serenity didn’t last long and 1hr in I got hit by a stinger wrapping across my chest and under both armpits. Wow, those buggers hurt! But I kept swimming, and the pain began to ease a little.

About 3 hours in I had hit the halfway point and from here things went a little more downhill. I got hit by another stinger across my face and again under my armpit. From here my lips swelled and I was not very happy. It was at his point that l also began to feel nauseated. I managed to tolerate 2 more feeds before they started to come back up, I apologise to the swimmer who was behind me at this stage, it wasn’t pretty.

​At the 19km mark the support boats must leave the swimming channel and I was hanging out for my crew to finally wave me goodbye. At one point I stopped swimming to see if I could see the finish line and was wondering why they were still with me. My paddler Cam calmly called out that the boat was about to leave and he would only be with me another 200m and then i was on my own. I could’ve hugged him!

I slowly plodded my way up to the finish line (I wanted to avoid a public spew on the finish line!) and finally touched sand. There is no better feeling than hitting that sand and standing upright after a 20km swim. Pure relief. With my swollen lips and racoon eyes I crossed the finish line in 6hrs 51mins.Although this swim didn’t go to plan and I didn’t achieve the time I was hoping, under the circumstances I couldn’t have done any better. This was a huge learning curve for me and a fantastic test for my mind and body.

​I have a truck load of work to do over the next 5 months but am closer than ever to achieving my ultimate goal of successfully crossing the English Channel and raising $100,000 for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.

Thank you for all those messages of support before, during and after the race, and to all those who have donated, as we have now raised more than $20,000!! Remember, any donation, no matter how much, makes a difference.

A special thanks must go out to my skipper, Damo and paddler Cam for their support throughout the swim, and making this challenge a reality. I was really lucky to find a couple of 'salt of the earth' blokes to help me out!

My Crew- Damo, Cam and Campbell

​As for my recovery post a 20km swim, it is safe to say I feel a lot better than my crew and Mon who celebrated hard on my behalf post swim. WiIl I be having another crack next year? I certainly won’t be ruling it out!!

I am delighted to announce both Ferrier Hodgson and Colliers International as major corporate sponsors for Swimming 4 Jess. Both Ferrier Hodgson and Colliers International are not only providing direct financial support, they are also assisting in fundraising efforts to assist me in my goal of raising $100,000 for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.

With almost $17,000 raised for the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation to date, we look forward to continuing to watch this tally grow over the next few months in the lead up to my swim in July.

Thanks to all those who have donated to date and a reminder for those that haven't, all donations above $2 are fully tax deductible.

Thank you to Ferrier Hodgson and Colliers International for your support.

We look forward to updating you on a major fundraising event coming up in due course.

One of the highlights last month was attending the Cure Brain Cancer Foundation Christmas Drinks in Brisbane. At the function my husband Campbell and I met fellow QLD fundraisers and event organisers and heard some amazing survival stories as well as some who had experienced tragic loss.

We had the pleasure of meeting CBCF’s Head of Engagement Barrie Littlefield. Barrie had heard on the grapevine about my Channel swim and had also met Brad and Jess at a CBCF seminar at UQ last year.He was really excited and very encouraging about my challenge and as a Brit, was well aware of the chilly water temperature I’ll be encountering. Barrie shared with us his personal history with Brain Cancer as he lost his gorgeous daughter Eloise at the age of 10 to the disease. He has courageously make it his mission to help in the fight to cure brain cancer. You can find out about Barrie’s story by clicking the following link https://youtu.be/1vi1dDCYTfM

Barrie updated the group on recent advancements within the Foundation and it’s collaboration with research partners around the world, which has seen the exciting development of GBM Agile. GBM Agile is a way to get new treatments to patients quicker, as tragically time is not on their side.

It is an exciting time to be involved with this Foundation, particularly as they are on the verge of some long-awaited, much needed breakthroughs.

The Foundation is dedicated to accelerating the development of new treatments to increase five-year survival from the current 20% to 50% by 2023. Treatments and survival rates for Brain cancer have not changed for 30 YEARS!! I find this absolutely astounding and CBCF are committed to making a change.

This can only be done through the support of the public (YOU!) Brain Cancer research receives very little funding compared to other cancers and receives less than 5% of federal government cancer research funding. So I feel there is a sense of urgency to raise funds for research as these life saving advancements cannot be made if the donations are not there.

Thank you so much to all those that have already donated and we look forward to our tally continuing to rise.

​As always, December is generally the busiest time of year and this year was no exception. Between juggling 3 kids on holidays, swimming training, Christmas festivities and trying to eat like a demon there has not been much time for updating the Swimming 4 Jess Blog. I apologise for the lack of communication!

Last month I swam in the Vladswim 10km Challenge at Balmoral in Sydney. It was a beautiful day for open water swimming and there was barely a ripple on the water when we first arrived. This swim also served as a qualifyer for the Rottnest Channel WA swim and there was a group of 53 swimmers in the 10km event.

​There was a small contingency of Brisbane Grimsey swimmers at the event and all did really well thanks to super coach Trent Grimsey (who also competed and won the event without even training for it!!)

​The course began at Chinaman’s Beach with the first turning bouy at Balmoral Beach. The 10km swimmers were required to complete 4 loops of the course and were able to access their nutrition and water from the floating feeding station which was towed 100m off shore.

​I completed the 10km swim in 2hrs 43mins and felt really comfortable for the duration of the swim. Considering I had a less than ideal lead up due to illness, I was really happy with bettering my previous 10km time by 22 minutes. It is very satisfying to see the hard work paying off and I am looking forward to more of it!

My next challenge is the Rottnest Channel Swim in February. This swim is 19.7km and is swum from Cottesloe Beach to Rottnest Island and although it is not even half the distance of what I will be swimming in July, it will give me a chance to test my nutrition regime and feeding from a boat. Each swimmer is required to have their own skipper with boat and a paddler. Thanks to Damo and Cam for helping me out.

"Operation Fat" has officially begun. This is the part of my prep that I have not been looking forward to but is essential for a successful crossing. According to my guru cold water marathon dietitian Tara, I need to try and gain at least 6-8kgs preferably around my torso (to protect my internal organs from the cold water) by July. I have 8 months to do this and the clock is ticking. Like most of you I initially thought, "How hard can it be?"I figured that all I needed to do was eat more than I was exercising. This becomes a problem when I am exercising 2-3hrs a day. That equates to A LOT of food... I do not have time to eat that much!The solution is to increase calorie intake mainly through liquids; flavoured milk, cordial, soft drinks. That way once the channel is over, the liquid calories can be eliminated and I haven't formed too many bad habits with portion control and types of food. This will be the first and last time in my life I will be fist pumping when the numbers on the scales rise. As well as trying to gain body fat, I have also been busy trying to increase awareness about our Swimming 4 Jess campaign. This morning I attended a Colliers staff meeting in the Brisbane head office and with the support of my mate Joey Dean presented to around 80 staff (although felt like 200) outlining my inspiration, the cause and my training journey so far. Thanks so much for inviting me to speak Joey. Hopefully, my public speaking comfort level increases with my waistline.As you all know we want to raise money and awareness for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation.I also want to inspire people, like Jess has inspired me. To experience all life has to offer by stepping out of comfort zones, chasing dreams, taking risks and just giving it a red hot go. You never know what is around the corner.

Jane Gordon

I am 35, married to an amazingly supportive man, mother of 3 little boys and recently swam the English Channel Solo in 2016. I was swimming to raise money and awareness for Cure Brain Cancer Foundation and to pay tribute to our friend Jess who had recently lost her battle with this disease.Follow our journey, support the cause. It's time to make a change.